We all need to help each other out of global crisis

In days gone by, England’s difficulties were Ireland’s opportunities. So the 1916 Rising took place while England was having a spot of bother in France and other parts of Europe.

Not so any more. Today England’s difficulties are Ireland’s difficulties.
Same with Greece’s difficulties. Or Spain’s. Or Portugal’s. We need to help each other and bail each other out when difficulties arise.That applies whether we are in or out of the Eurozone and when America sneezes, they say we all catch a cold. The whole global banking crisis was triggered off by events in America, and when America starts to prosper again, so will Europe.
Of course, we have our own difficulties here in Ireland but we will not get out of those difficulties until those countries we do business with have sorted out their problems.
If there is no work to be had in England, unemployed Irish workers are going to stay unemployed.
Therefore, it is important for Ireland as well as Britain that they have a stable government that will be able to tackle their problems.
While the general election in Britain was coming down the tracks, no administration was prepared to take the tough measures that needed to be taken to rectify the deficit. Now that the election is over, we must hope that the new government will be strong enough to last the pace.
My own preference was for a Labour government supported by the Liberal Democrats and the various Nationalist groupings, but I will be happy with the Tories and the Lib Dems.
Meanwhile, back home in Ireland, I am delighted to see that Sinn Féin and the SDLP have held on to the eight seats they had in the outgoing parliament. I say that as an Irish Republican who looks forward to the day that the border goes and both parts of Ireland are united.
But that will not happen while the majority of MPs we return to the House of Commons are Unionist of one sort or another. So the more Republicans or Nationalists that are elected, the happier I am and I don’t care whether those MPs are SDLP or Sinn Féin.
By the way, I hope you understand that when I say I am an Irish Republican, I am not in favour of forcing the Unionist population into a united Ireland by bomb, bullet or any other means. Sometimes people mistakenly think that when one says he is an Irish Republican, he is saying he is an IRA supporter or member. Not necessarily so. Fianna Fáil never dropped its claim to be the Republican party.
So is Fine Gael, even though they don’t shout it so loudly, as is the Labour Party. We live in a Republic, for God’s sake. So we are all Irish Republicans, and I don’t know of any party in this part of Ireland which wants to change our status from a Republic.
Therefore, I was sorry to see the Republican – or Nationalist – vote split in some constituencies in last week’s election. But despite that split, they still managed to win eight of the 18 seats that Northern Ireland holds in the House of Commons.
However, Sinn Féin’s Michell Gildernew barely managed to hold her seat by four votes in Fermanagh/South Tyrone because the Republican/Nationalist vote was split in that constituency.
She has no guarantee that she will retain her seat at the next election if the vote continues to be split. Because the margin is so tight, the seat could exchange hands at any time and be presented to the Unionists but, luckily for her and the cause of a united Ireland, her vote increased by more than 7% and the vote for the SDLP’s Fearghal McKinney had decreased by the same amount.
I believe the SDLP were wrong in contesting the seat. I understand their reasons, but if McKinney had made any inroads at all into Gildernew’s vote, the seat would have been lost.
The SDLP never had any hope of winning the seat and the more votes they took from Sinn Féin in Fermanagh/South Tyrone, the more chance there was of a Unionist victory.
It is not sectarian to be in favour of one agreed candidate on the Republican/Nationalist side. Personally, I wouldn’t mind what religion the candidate had or if he or she had no religion, as long as he favoured Irish unity.
I hope the SDLP bear that in mind at the next election. If the SDLP had handed the seat to the Unionists they would not be forgiven. Just as we would not forgive Sinn Féin if they had put up a candidate in South Belfast and handed SDLPs Alasdair McDonnell’s seat to the Unionists once more.
While eight seats out of 18 was a good result for the Republican/Nationalist side, they could have actually won nine out of 18 if Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly was not opposed by Alban Magenniss of the SDLP in North Belfast.
They should get their act together.